Enter The Walking Dead Social Game

Attention Walking Dead fans! Ever wanted to head out into the woods with your buddies and hunt some Walkers? Maybe stick one right in the eye with a screwdriver? Or what if you had Daryl’s crossbow, Rick’s gun or Michonne’s sword? Launching today on Facebook, in open beta form, is The Walking Dead Social Game – a story-based survival game based on AMC’s hit zompocalypse TV show. AMC and RockYou have collaborated to create a Facebook game that stays true to the events of the series and enables users to live, kill, run and die within creator Robert Kirkman’s bleak zombie-ridden world.

Click here to get The Walking Dead Social Game on Facebook

IGN had the chance to speak to representatives from both AMC and RockYou to learn more about this game, which allows players to create their own characters and interact with main characters from the AMC series. “You start the game in a prequel state,” Stephen Griffin, CEO of Eyes Wide Games told us. “So it actually all starts before Rick wakes up from his coma. And you’re with Shane and Lori en route to Atlanta. The game is divided into chapters so the first chapter is this prequel state. And then every few months we’re going to release a new chapter.” Griffin then went on to explain that each new chapter, after the first prequel chapter, will represent a season of the TV series, with the 4th chapter syncing up, more or less, with the premiere of Season 3.

- RockYou

“Game play takes place in the gaps in between the episodes, Griffin continued. “All the stuff that you don’t see. But we also have reenactment missions. So when something like the camp gets attacked at the quarry [happens], you can play through that. All that kind of stuff will happen outside of your character’s narrative. We knew that fans would eventually want to play as Michonne and reenact some parts of the show.”

There are camp missions that require you to scout and scavange, and then there are the TV missions. “A lot of the missions require you to keep everyone well equipped and well supplied, as well as advance the story along” said Jeff Friedlander, Creative Director from RockYou, speaking to the gritty, survivalist environment that the game tries to capture. But then, as Griffin explained, you might go on a mission with T-Dog to find his missing friend. Or play as Shane in the dead-infested high school to see if you can make it out without, you know, having to shoot Otis to survive.

But despite the fact that you’re able to dish out some serious, gory damage to Walkers, The Walking Dead Social game is as much about strategy as it is about decimating zombies. Over the course of the game, you’ll develop skills like sight, stamina, and fighting. You’ll have to decide when it’s time to run and hide and when it’s time engage and rage. You’ll have to both use noise to distract Walkers and fear loud noises that might rouse them. You’ll be able to run missions with your Facebook friends, as well as kill your Facebook friends who aren’t in the game and appear on your screen as Walkers (with the option of posting a kill notice on their wall that may entice them into checking out the game).

- RockYou

But one of the coolest aspects of this social game is the fact that, due to RockYou’s partnership with AMC, they’re actually able to add to the lore of the show. You’ll start off the game with Shane and Lori and meet T-Dog and Morgan too. But you’ll also meet a character in the game pre-transformation who we’ve only seen on the TV show as a Walker. And you’ll find out how they met their fate. “If you saw the webisodes about Bicycle Girl the then you know how this works,” Griffin explained. “We’re taking that same approach. And we’re sprinkling it throughout. And while we still want the game to be about going through the chapters, we’re going to keep that idea going - where you’ll keep meeting some of the key Walkers from the show before they turned. And you might even actually be a part of why or how they became a Walker. It’ll be interesting, with this first chapter, to see how quickly the users will pick up on which character is actually a future Walker on the show in Season 1 when they’re in the camp with them. So we do have a chance to contribute to the lore of the show in that way.”

The Walking Dead Social Game is the result of a groundbreaking collaboration between AMC and RockYou; one which shucked the usual traditions of game licensing. Mac McKean, AMC’s SVP of Digital Media told us that they were really looking for someone to partner up with. “I think a lot of shows just license away the game and it becomes detached from the main property,” McKean said. “In our case, we were looking for a publisher who really wanted to work closely with us and present the game in the right way so that it was true to the show. And so that we could remain creatively involved to make sure the show was properly represented. And RockYou was perfect for that.”

- RockYou

Likewise, Ed Zobrist, GM Publishing at RockYou said that the total integration with AMC was unprecedented. “I think that’s going to show in the game itself and be appreciated by the fans,” he said. “The level at which we maintain the fidelity to the show. And I wouldn’t be surprised if more and more companies start taking this sort of partnership approach to these games.”

So what was ultimately behind the decision to create The Walking Dead Social Game? Well you don’t have to look much further than the almost 10 million fans on The Walking Dead’s official Facebook page. “When we looked at a show like The Walking Dead where, first of all, we had millions and million of fans on Facebook and fans who are very passionate about the show and want to explore that world where the show takes place, we thought “How can we not give them a Social Game?” McKean added. “And we’d have it be for Facebook where so many of them already are and they can just dive into the world and have adventures. We couldn’t not do it.”

The Walking Dead Social Game launches in open beta on Thursday, August 9th - Get it here!

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